1
00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:27,200
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Hammer Territory Podcast. My name is Sean Coleman,

2
00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:29,400
Speaker 1: and it is a pleasure to be with you once again. Hope,

3
00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,440
Speaker 1: wherever you are and wherever you are listening, you're excited

4
00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,239
Speaker 1: for this edition of the Hammer Territory Podcast, because I

5
00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:37,919
Speaker 1: know I am. For two reasons. Number One, we have

6
00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,280
Speaker 1: a win to recap, a six stree win for the

7
00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,440
Speaker 1: Braves over the Orioles in what was an impressive pitch

8
00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:47,640
Speaker 1: of performance at offensive performance. And Stephen Tolbert is back

9
00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:52,400
Speaker 1: from his travels seeing the Braves in the Greater Maryland area.

10
00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:54,600
Speaker 1: But Stephen, glad to have you back, sir, Hope you

11
00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:55,240
Speaker 1: had a great trip.

12
00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,120
Speaker 2: What's up shot on Hey buddy, Yeah, man, it's good

13
00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:00,920
Speaker 2: to be home. A lot of reasons. It's good to

14
00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,560
Speaker 2: be home. But I missed doing the show. Shout out

15
00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,880
Speaker 2: to Scott and you and Brad for holding down the fort.

16
00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,039
Speaker 2: I know we had some good episodes. I know justin

17
00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,399
Speaker 2: Disconald came on with Scott while I was gone. I

18
00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:14,320
Speaker 2: know you did a show, Brad did a show, So

19
00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,160
Speaker 2: I appreciate you guys of course covering for me. But yeah,

20
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:18,960
Speaker 2: it was a fun trip. We'll talk about a little

21
00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,200
Speaker 2: bit more as we go on the show. But yeah,

22
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,679
Speaker 2: we got a win today and that's you know, if

23
00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,000
Speaker 2: if we had come on here of having to talk

24
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,639
Speaker 2: about the sixth loss in a row, the the tone

25
00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:32,560
Speaker 2: of this show would have been much different. But got

26
00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,800
Speaker 2: a much much needed win today. Of course we'll talk

27
00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,840
Speaker 2: about it, but it's always good to do these with you, buddy.

28
00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,240
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and let's start there. Of course you had the

29
00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:46,600
Speaker 1: Hammer Territory podcast, part of the Foul Foul Territory family

30
00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,840
Speaker 1: of podcasts. But you know, in a very much perhaps

31
00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:54,240
Speaker 1: his most impressive start so far for the Brazen Renondo Lopez.

32
00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:55,840
Speaker 1: We'll actually get to him in just a moment, because

33
00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,120
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the offense, because any type

34
00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,680
Speaker 1: of good performance from the offense that that's where we start.

35
00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,920
Speaker 1: And in this game, in particular, Steven, we were three

36
00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,800
Speaker 1: for sixteen with runners in scoring position. Yes, that's been

37
00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,040
Speaker 1: the normal trend over the past two months, but we'll

38
00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,000
Speaker 1: set that negative to the side. Let's focus on the positives.

39
00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:19,040
Speaker 1: The Braves got the ball rolling early in the first inning.

40
00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,760
Speaker 1: At one point they were one for one with a

41
00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,320
Speaker 1: two run double off the battle Marcelo Zuna. They got

42
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,280
Speaker 1: some runs early they got three overall hits with runners

43
00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,720
Speaker 1: in scoring position. But to me, Steven, I know, they

44
00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,360
Speaker 1: were three for sixteen, but the sixteen opportunities is what

45
00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,239
Speaker 1: stands out to me. That was the result of several

46
00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,160
Speaker 1: hitters who had been struggling recently having good at bats.

47
00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,480
Speaker 1: Ozzy Albi's four hits, Adam Devall had his best offensive

48
00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,160
Speaker 1: game in quite a while, Michael Harris a goodwin as well.

49
00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,240
Speaker 1: While we didn't see just a ton of runs, the

50
00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,359
Speaker 1: overabundance of opportunities certainly is a positive and it was

51
00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:53,239
Speaker 1: much needed to stop this losing streak.

52
00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:57,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, listen, three for sixteen with runners at

53
00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,240
Speaker 2: scoring position is a bit of a double sided coin, right,

54
00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:02,919
Speaker 2: You can focus on the three or you can first

55
00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,040
Speaker 2: focus on the sixteen. You know, just getting that many

56
00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,800
Speaker 2: opportunities is a positive for this team. Just any offensive

57
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:11,760
Speaker 2: life is a positive. I mean, you know, like you said,

58
00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:16,080
Speaker 2: Ozzie had four hits, Braves had twelve hits overall, you know,

59
00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,480
Speaker 2: just traffic on the basis all day, you know, just

60
00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:25,320
Speaker 2: a normal a normal variant in terms of runners and

61
00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,040
Speaker 2: scoring position outcomes. And the Braves probably scored ten or

62
00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,440
Speaker 2: eleven runs in that game. But you know, they got

63
00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,200
Speaker 2: out with six, so yeah, you.

64
00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:33,920
Speaker 1: Could focus on the three.

65
00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,000
Speaker 2: You can focus on the sixteam We're gonna focus on

66
00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,880
Speaker 2: the sixteen because the Braves won the game. I had

67
00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:41,600
Speaker 2: the Braves lost the game, we would probably be focusing

68
00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,800
Speaker 2: on the three. So but yeah, I mean Ozzie against lefties,

69
00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,400
Speaker 2: we know is typically a pretty good matchup for Braves fans.

70
00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,160
Speaker 2: You know, I like Ozzie batting in the two hole

71
00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:53,360
Speaker 2: against the lefties. I don't love it as much against righty's,

72
00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:55,920
Speaker 2: but that's you know, that's a separate conversation. The Braves

73
00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,240
Speaker 2: don't have a ton of options at the top of

74
00:03:58,280 --> 00:03:59,920
Speaker 2: the lineup right now, so they're just gonna have to

75
00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:01,520
Speaker 2: kind of make do with what they have. But Ozzy

76
00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:03,840
Speaker 2: Egan's lefties is always a good matchup, of course, Marcel,

77
00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:06,760
Speaker 2: it's been the best hitter on the team. You know,

78
00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,600
Speaker 2: Davall had a decent day, has had a pretty good

79
00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:12,320
Speaker 2: stretch here. He's been one of the few guys that

80
00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,640
Speaker 2: hasn't been slumping. So yeah, overall, it's it's nice to

81
00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,120
Speaker 2: see runners on base. It's nice to see opportunities. It's

82
00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,640
Speaker 2: nice to see some some offense, just some hits. Honestly.

83
00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,800
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, we've been so desperate for runs

84
00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:29,719
Speaker 2: lately that you know, just just having guys on base,

85
00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,800
Speaker 2: just having the threat of offense was nice to see.

86
00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:36,960
Speaker 2: And obviously, you know, they came through with a few

87
00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:38,640
Speaker 2: of them to get six runs on the board, which

88
00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,120
Speaker 2: is more than they've scored in a while. I think

89
00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,200
Speaker 2: they scored eight runs in the first game against Boston

90
00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:46,320
Speaker 2: on this trip, and they haven't scored more than five

91
00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:47,960
Speaker 2: runs in any of the games. I think they've scored

92
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,240
Speaker 2: eight before today. They scored sixteen runs in seven games,

93
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,279
Speaker 2: which is barely over two runs a games. So you know,

94
00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,400
Speaker 2: six runs, of course, is tremendous. Obviously, you would like

95
00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,200
Speaker 2: to cash in on more of those opportunit unities so

96
00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:02,919
Speaker 2: that the tying run doesn't come to the plate like

97
00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,440
Speaker 2: it did the ninth inning. You know, usually when you

98
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:07,800
Speaker 2: leave that many guys on base, you don't win the game, you.

99
00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:08,279
Speaker 3: Pay for it.

100
00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:10,880
Speaker 2: But the Braves had such an overabundance of guys on

101
00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,560
Speaker 2: base that the few times they came through were enough

102
00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:15,400
Speaker 2: to hold down and win.

103
00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,640
Speaker 1: The game, absolutely, And it was just great to see.

104
00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,159
Speaker 1: It was just nice to see opportunities early and it

105
00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,719
Speaker 1: was nice to see late the Braves be able to

106
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,480
Speaker 1: put some insurance runs in place after Kyle Stowers hit

107
00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:30,719
Speaker 1: that pre run homer off Pierce Johnson. He was great

108
00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:32,880
Speaker 1: to see the Braves be able to respond. So just

109
00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,760
Speaker 1: the offense came to life again. You know, the execution

110
00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:37,760
Speaker 1: certainly still has a ways to go, but it was

111
00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,240
Speaker 1: nice to get a victory, and it be because of

112
00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:42,640
Speaker 1: how good the offense was. But I can tell you

113
00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,520
Speaker 1: whether the Braves are playing well or not, it's always

114
00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,160
Speaker 1: a great experience to go to the ballpark. And Steven,

115
00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:50,000
Speaker 1: I know you have a first hand account of this

116
00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:55,040
Speaker 1: here recently with your recent trips, but I continue this Stephen,

117
00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,120
Speaker 1: when you're trying to find tickets to a Braves game,

118
00:05:58,360 --> 00:05:59,760
Speaker 1: you have to feel good that a place you could

119
00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,200
Speaker 1: go is Seat Geek is one stop shop for any

120
00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:05,039
Speaker 1: type of sporting concert or just even in general that

121
00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:05,839
Speaker 1: you want to attend.

122
00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's a tremendous help to be able to

123
00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,920
Speaker 2: get anywhere you want to go, very convenient. So we

124
00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,719
Speaker 2: appreciate seat geek as being a sponsor. But yeah, next

125
00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:17,400
Speaker 2: time you're at a game, you go on a trip

126
00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,039
Speaker 2: like me multiple games, make sure to check out seat

127
00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:21,839
Speaker 2: Geek for your all your ticket needs.

128
00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,440
Speaker 1: See Gek is the official ticket marketplace in Major League Baseball,

129
00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:27,880
Speaker 1: so they have you covered for all the baseball ticket

130
00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:30,360
Speaker 1: needs that you have twenty eight million downloads. It's the

131
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,200
Speaker 1: number one rated ticketing NOP seventy thousand events on seat

132
00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:38,000
Speaker 1: Geeks concerts, festivals, sports, and baseball season is in full swing,

133
00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,280
Speaker 1: so you don't want to miss out. Seat Geek has

134
00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:42,320
Speaker 1: tickets to every game and the great thing about it

135
00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,480
Speaker 1: is is that it has a rating system of one

136
00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:46,840
Speaker 1: to ten. Each ticket is rated from one to ten,

137
00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:48,840
Speaker 1: so if it's green, it's good, if it's right, it's

138
00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:50,440
Speaker 1: not so good. So make sure you check out the

139
00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,640
Speaker 1: rating systems and you know that we have you covered.

140
00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,159
Speaker 1: If you use the promo code Hammer, you'll get twenty

141
00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,640
Speaker 1: dollars off tickets at Sea Geek. That's twenty dollars off

142
00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,600
Speaker 1: your first ticket with the promo code Hammer. Make sure

143
00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,920
Speaker 1: you click the link in the description to download the app.

144
00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,720
Speaker 1: So Stephen, before we get to you know your first

145
00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,120
Speaker 1: hand experience. So seeing the Braves recently, it wasn't you know,

146
00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,800
Speaker 1: such a good experience with which just all on the field,

147
00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,080
Speaker 1: but still awesome experience to be in the ballpark. Do

148
00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,080
Speaker 1: you want to get your thoughts on Renaldo Lopez Listen.

149
00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,200
Speaker 1: He's been a frequent topic of conversation between you and

150
00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,800
Speaker 1: I on any you Know podcast or or segment covering

151
00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,640
Speaker 1: the Braves. Rynald Lopez is frequently brought up. But I

152
00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:31,760
Speaker 1: want to go with it from a different perspective now

153
00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:33,920
Speaker 1: he I think we're to the point now, Steven, to

154
00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:35,880
Speaker 1: where we're not just talking about him being a bright

155
00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:37,880
Speaker 1: spot on this team. We're not just talking about him

156
00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,680
Speaker 1: being one of the best ree agent pickups from you know,

157
00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,640
Speaker 1: the off season. I know that he likely is not

158
00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:45,760
Speaker 1: going to continue the level that he's at throughout the

159
00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,760
Speaker 1: whole season. Regression probably is gonna come at some point.

160
00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,440
Speaker 1: But I will say that as of right now, with

161
00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:53,840
Speaker 1: how awesome he is one point six ninety RA through

162
00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,000
Speaker 1: thirteen starts, one of his better starts against one of

163
00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:01,040
Speaker 1: the toughest lineups that he's faced on Thursday, right now,

164
00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,040
Speaker 1: I don't think it's far fetched to say Ronaldo Lopez

165
00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:06,520
Speaker 1: is clearly one of the best pitchers in the National League,

166
00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:08,320
Speaker 1: and I think has one of the best cases of

167
00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:10,800
Speaker 1: any arm in the National League to represent them in

168
00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:11,880
Speaker 1: the All Star Game. This year.

169
00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:19,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think he's certainly gonna be well.

170
00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:20,560
Speaker 2: I don't want to say certainly. There's been a lot

171
00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,080
Speaker 2: of really good pitching performances in the National League this year,

172
00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:25,760
Speaker 2: so I'm not gonna say certainly, but he is. He

173
00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:27,880
Speaker 2: is definitely going to be in high consideration for the

174
00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,440
Speaker 2: All Star Game, him and Chris Sell both and probably

175
00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,559
Speaker 2: Max Free honestly, but there's a lot there's a lot

176
00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,160
Speaker 2: of really good starting pitchers and they only take usually

177
00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,040
Speaker 2: like six or seven guys. So you know, Ronaldo might

178
00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:42,400
Speaker 2: lose out to a numbers game, but you know, he's

179
00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,080
Speaker 2: just been incredible. I don't I mean not. I never

180
00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,960
Speaker 2: in a million years saw this coming. You know, he's

181
00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,599
Speaker 2: got an era. What I think after today, it's a

182
00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,240
Speaker 2: I looked it up. It's like a one a one

183
00:08:55,480 --> 00:09:00,760
Speaker 2: seven era. After today, you know, another six show innings.

184
00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,120
Speaker 2: You know, the strikeouts have really jumped up, which helps

185
00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:08,520
Speaker 2: his peripherals. You know, he's not living by good batted

186
00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:11,360
Speaker 2: ball luck as much as you know, he's getting his

187
00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:15,120
Speaker 2: fair amount of strikeouts. I think he's I think he's

188
00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,840
Speaker 2: up over nine strikeouts per nine innings, which is a

189
00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:21,800
Speaker 2: strong number. You know, you can you can win everything

190
00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,200
Speaker 2: you need to win with With the number that strong,

191
00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:28,080
Speaker 2: he's not walking anybody, which is very impressive. You know,

192
00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,679
Speaker 2: he's still got some batted ball numbers that are favorable

193
00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,040
Speaker 2: that should regress a little bit. But you know, he's

194
00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,559
Speaker 2: got a one to seven ERA, but he's got a

195
00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,800
Speaker 2: two eight three PHIP, so it's not like he's you know,

196
00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,840
Speaker 2: it's not like he's three runs. You know, he's got

197
00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,360
Speaker 2: like a three run spread there. I mean, a two

198
00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,240
Speaker 2: to eight FIP is still fantastic. He's just been amazing.

199
00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:52,719
Speaker 2: You know, today he had ninety nine miles an hour

200
00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:54,360
Speaker 2: on the radar gun, I think for the first time

201
00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,880
Speaker 2: all year as a starter. So you know, he's got

202
00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,560
Speaker 2: more in the tank. He definitely holds some you know,

203
00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:02,640
Speaker 2: this is a guy's reliever. We saw throw. You know,

204
00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:04,040
Speaker 2: he was throwing a hundred one hundred and one as

205
00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,080
Speaker 2: a reliever. So he's definitely got more in the tank. Obviously,

206
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:09,280
Speaker 2: when you throw six seven innings, when you're throwing a

207
00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,280
Speaker 2: hundred pitches, you can't max separate like that. But when

208
00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:14,840
Speaker 2: he wants it, when he needs it in big spots,

209
00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:17,120
Speaker 2: he can go up to ninety eight, ninety nine and

210
00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,520
Speaker 2: probably even one hundred if he needed to for a

211
00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:23,920
Speaker 2: couple of pitches. So it's been, it's been incredible. You know,

212
00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,360
Speaker 2: I don't want to. I am always cautious about this.

213
00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,480
Speaker 2: I don't want to. I don't want to reset the

214
00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:32,960
Speaker 2: expectation for him where this is the new expectation. I

215
00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,360
Speaker 2: don't think that's fair. I think he should be considered

216
00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:42,200
Speaker 2: more of a three, four, five starter, where you know

217
00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:44,360
Speaker 2: he's gonna be you know, if he gives you an

218
00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:48,040
Speaker 2: ERA in the threes, then you're just you're a static

219
00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,160
Speaker 2: with that and you take it all day long. I

220
00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:52,240
Speaker 2: don't think a one to seven e RA is his

221
00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:56,240
Speaker 2: new you know, baseline talent level. That's upsurd, that's you know,

222
00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,560
Speaker 2: that's cy young stuff. But you know, we keep saying

223
00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:02,240
Speaker 2: he's gonna regress, he's going to regress. I still think

224
00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:04,040
Speaker 2: it's gonna happen. Some of the numbers are a little

225
00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,240
Speaker 2: too obvious, not too but you know, it's not as

226
00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:09,120
Speaker 2: clear cut as it was earlier in this season, where

227
00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,120
Speaker 2: he wasn't striking a ton of guys out and he

228
00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:13,040
Speaker 2: was very much living off some good bat at ball

229
00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:15,679
Speaker 2: numbers and stuff that was clearly going to regress. And

230
00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:17,640
Speaker 2: now it's not so clear. I mean, he could definitely

231
00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,800
Speaker 2: run an era in the twos the rest of the

232
00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:23,160
Speaker 2: year if he you know, if he keeps pitching like this,

233
00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:24,880
Speaker 2: I don't think a one. I don't think any something

234
00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,400
Speaker 2: in the ones is realistic. But he's been incredible. I mean,

235
00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:28,880
Speaker 2: he's been a god send. Him and Chris Sale are

236
00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,160
Speaker 2: just they have saved the Braves in ways we don't

237
00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:34,960
Speaker 2: even understand. I mean, if they you know, the only

238
00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,079
Speaker 2: time the Braves win games lately is if they if

239
00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:41,800
Speaker 2: they really just throw out elite pitching. And obviously Pierce

240
00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,520
Speaker 2: Johnson had a rough day to day, but you know,

241
00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,360
Speaker 2: if if that hadn't happened, then the Braids would have

242
00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,960
Speaker 2: thrown a shutout today. So but you know, the offense

243
00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,200
Speaker 2: was able to cover a few runs up for the

244
00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,440
Speaker 2: first time in a while. I was good to see.

245
00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:57,960
Speaker 2: But We're always been incredible and I'm so happy for him.

246
00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:00,840
Speaker 2: All the credit goes in the world to him, Alex

247
00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,240
Speaker 2: for making the move. You know, that was not a

248
00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,880
Speaker 2: move anybody saw coming, you know, signing Lopez, turning him

249
00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,280
Speaker 2: into a starter. It was so odd that we weren't

250
00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:12,400
Speaker 2: even sure they were being honest about it. I mean,

251
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:14,319
Speaker 2: we were talking about, you know, if this is kind

252
00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:15,720
Speaker 2: of a smoke screen to see if they can go

253
00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:18,319
Speaker 2: get another starter, but they were dead serious about it.

254
00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:19,839
Speaker 2: They were dead set on it from day one. They

255
00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:21,880
Speaker 2: said it from day one. He's gonna start. He wants

256
00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,160
Speaker 2: to start. He things he can start, and he has

257
00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:26,040
Speaker 2: and he's been unbelievable. So all the credit in the

258
00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,720
Speaker 2: world to him. It's been it has been a lifesaver

259
00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:29,400
Speaker 2: for the Braves.

260
00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:34,680
Speaker 1: Over the past hundred years, there have only been five

261
00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:39,120
Speaker 1: instances in which a pitcher in his first thirteen starts

262
00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,959
Speaker 1: with a franchise has done like Ronaldo Lopez has has

263
00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,040
Speaker 1: a you know, one point seventy ra or lower and

264
00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:50,520
Speaker 1: seventy strikeouts across those thirteen starts. Al Lider back in

265
00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,480
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety eight, and then here recently Justin Berlander with

266
00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,760
Speaker 1: the Astros in twenty seventeen, but also in two thousand

267
00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,920
Speaker 1: and eight, Edison Balquiz with the Reds and C. C. Savathi,

268
00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,120
Speaker 1: you know, with with the Milwaukee Brewers, and then Renaldo

269
00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,920
Speaker 1: Lopez this year. So that just shows how rare it

270
00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,240
Speaker 1: is for a pitcher to come in and perform at

271
00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:11,760
Speaker 1: the level that Renald Lopez has been doing in a

272
00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:13,720
Speaker 1: new setting, in a new role. That's what makes it

273
00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,000
Speaker 1: even more impressive. So it was it was quite awesome

274
00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:17,680
Speaker 1: to see. And to your point, Stephen, you know, a

275
00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:20,160
Speaker 1: month ago we were talking a bit about regression for

276
00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:22,520
Speaker 1: him because you know, he had an eer a you know,

277
00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,040
Speaker 1: I think around two point five, but as Phip was

278
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,200
Speaker 1: at four, well that Phip, you know, going down now

279
00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,480
Speaker 1: to two point eight three. You know, again, it just

280
00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:33,920
Speaker 1: shows that the secondary, you know, the the underlying metrics

281
00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,400
Speaker 1: are supporting the quality effort. So it's going to be

282
00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,679
Speaker 1: great to see. But something else that I that I've

283
00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,160
Speaker 1: been waiting to hear about Stephen, it is your first

284
00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:45,040
Speaker 1: hand experience of seeing the Braves in person. I know

285
00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,080
Speaker 1: that A point that you have brought up that I

286
00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:49,840
Speaker 1: think is very valid is that you know, the Braves

287
00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,920
Speaker 1: have had some atrocious luck at times when it comes

288
00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:54,600
Speaker 1: to balls that they put in play. I know you

289
00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:58,040
Speaker 1: saw that firsthand. But they've also had some pretty atrocious

290
00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,640
Speaker 1: approaches at the plates in terms of stuff they can control.

291
00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,120
Speaker 1: But just a couple of things that stood out for

292
00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,600
Speaker 1: you from the performances that you saw in Washington and Baltimore,

293
00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:11,080
Speaker 1: maybe not all negative, but but definitely I'm sorry that

294
00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:13,559
Speaker 1: you had to see the baseball games that you saw

295
00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:14,960
Speaker 1: during the stretch that you did.

296
00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, listen, And I had a lot of people sending

297
00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,120
Speaker 2: tweets at me to this similar effect of you know,

298
00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:26,240
Speaker 2: sorry that this is the baseball you're watching. What I

299
00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:28,840
Speaker 2: will say is the worst day at a baseball field

300
00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,040
Speaker 2: is still better than most days, still better than working

301
00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:34,480
Speaker 2: and you know, and having to grind away a day.

302
00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,240
Speaker 2: So yes, it was not the best baseball that I

303
00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,200
Speaker 2: watched over the last week. Obviously, the Braves were in

304
00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:42,040
Speaker 2: the middle of a five game losing streak through all

305
00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,680
Speaker 2: of it. But you know, the first game we watched,

306
00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,800
Speaker 2: the first game I was at, was Chris Sales game

307
00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:52,320
Speaker 2: in Washington, d C. It was the Friday night game,

308
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,440
Speaker 2: and you know, he pitched it. He pitched outstanding. He

309
00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,960
Speaker 2: was lights out, He was nasty. The offense didn't show up.

310
00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,320
Speaker 2: Obviously lost. I think they lost two to one in

311
00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,440
Speaker 2: that game. But you know, he was incredible. I was.

312
00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:08,400
Speaker 2: I had never seen him pitch live before. You know,

313
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:10,360
Speaker 2: I was in a pretty good advantage point where you

314
00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,360
Speaker 2: could see, you know, exactly how uncomfortable that it bad

315
00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,320
Speaker 2: he is. His stuff was nasty. Obviously, he was coming

316
00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,360
Speaker 2: off that that rough game against Oakland, so it was

317
00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,400
Speaker 2: good to see him bounce back. And then so I

318
00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:22,800
Speaker 2: went to the Friday night game, and then I went

319
00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,240
Speaker 2: to the Sunday game. That was originally going to be

320
00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,160
Speaker 2: Max Freed, but then it obviously turned into Hearston Waldrip's

321
00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,520
Speaker 2: major league debut. That was a weird game. That was

322
00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,960
Speaker 2: a really weird game. You know, Hurston was pitching really

323
00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,720
Speaker 2: well and then gave up like seven runs in like

324
00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,640
Speaker 2: ten minutes. It just it snowballed on him quick. I

325
00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:45,680
Speaker 2: think he probably got a little a little flustered. You know,

326
00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:47,560
Speaker 2: he started walking a lot of guys after that three

327
00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,400
Speaker 2: run homer that he gave up, and then you know,

328
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,080
Speaker 2: he got pulled and the first pitch that Aaron Bummer

329
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:57,040
Speaker 2: threw was a three run double from from Abrams, and

330
00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,720
Speaker 2: that pretty much ended uh Waldrops, you know, in terms

331
00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,320
Speaker 2: of his line. So but it was still cool to see.

332
00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:05,400
Speaker 2: It was really cool to see, you know, a guy's

333
00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,360
Speaker 2: major league debut. You know, I thought he looked good

334
00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,640
Speaker 2: at times. The splitter is a real pitch. The fastball

335
00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,480
Speaker 2: obviously is you know, it's ninety seven, ninety eight ninety nine.

336
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,240
Speaker 2: He's got real velocity. He's got to work on the slider,

337
00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:19,000
Speaker 2: he's got to work on his other breaking stuff. I

338
00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:20,840
Speaker 2: don't think it's fully there, but the splitter is a

339
00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,280
Speaker 2: real pitch, and you know that that's gonna be interesting.

340
00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:24,920
Speaker 1: You know.

341
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,120
Speaker 2: I wasn't sure if he'd get another start after that one.

342
00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,120
Speaker 2: I thought maybe he'd get sent back down to work

343
00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:30,800
Speaker 2: on that stuff a little bit more. But obviously we

344
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,160
Speaker 2: learned today that he is going to start. He's going

345
00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,000
Speaker 2: to start the last game against Tampa this week, so

346
00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:39,680
Speaker 2: that's cool. And then I went to see those are

347
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:41,160
Speaker 2: the two DC games, and then I went to the

348
00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,200
Speaker 2: Tuesday game in Baltimore, which was the Max Freed game.

349
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,400
Speaker 2: That was probably the most frustrating game just because the

350
00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:52,080
Speaker 2: offense was just nowhere to be found. I mean, a

351
00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,200
Speaker 2: Sean Murphy hit that ball. I was right there. Seann

352
00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:57,960
Speaker 2: Murray hit that ball two hundred and I mean three

353
00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,720
Speaker 2: hundred and ninety eight feet and to left field and

354
00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:02,600
Speaker 2: it didn't go out, because that's the only place in

355
00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:04,479
Speaker 2: the majors where you can hit the ball that far

356
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:06,439
Speaker 2: and not go out to left field. And then the

357
00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,680
Speaker 2: next inning the guy hits a three round homer for Baltimore.

358
00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,960
Speaker 2: It was just a that was That was the you know,

359
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,359
Speaker 2: the other two games were fun to watch. It was

360
00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:16,199
Speaker 2: cool to see Hurston, was cool to see Sale. That

361
00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,280
Speaker 2: game was very annoying just because the Braves had other

362
00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:21,639
Speaker 2: than that shot by Murphy, the Braves just had no

363
00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,440
Speaker 2: life on offense. So but you know what, like I said,

364
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,159
Speaker 2: it's the worst day you spend at a ballpark, is

365
00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,400
Speaker 2: still better than most. You know, we're doing this thing.

366
00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:33,280
Speaker 2: I'm trying to do this thing. Once they came out

367
00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:35,520
Speaker 2: with the balance schedule a couple of years ago, I

368
00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,840
Speaker 2: decided I want to see the Braves play in all

369
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,679
Speaker 2: the road parks. I wanted to go see all the

370
00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,120
Speaker 2: away stadiums, but see a Braves game in that stadium.

371
00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,680
Speaker 2: And so that's we We did Boston last year, we

372
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:49,680
Speaker 2: did DC in Baltimore this year. So that's just something

373
00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:51,359
Speaker 2: we're doing. But yeah, it was a lot of fun.

374
00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,159
Speaker 2: I had a ton of fun. It's you know, the

375
00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,879
Speaker 2: baseball or at least the results aside, you know, spending

376
00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,960
Speaker 2: time in the parks. Camden Yards is a really really

377
00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,080
Speaker 2: cool park. It's got a lot of it's not terribly old.

378
00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,240
Speaker 2: It's only about forty years old. It's not like Wrigley

379
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,760
Speaker 2: or Finlay, but it feels kind of older than that.

380
00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:11,760
Speaker 2: It's got a lot of character, it's got a lot

381
00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,160
Speaker 2: of unique features. You know, they've got the big warehouse

382
00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,399
Speaker 2: and right field. It's a really cool park. I had

383
00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:18,480
Speaker 2: a lot of fun. DC is a cool city to

384
00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,040
Speaker 2: be in, even if you're not watching baseball. So it's

385
00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,639
Speaker 2: a really fun trip. The baseball sucked, but you know,

386
00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,320
Speaker 2: that's baseball for you. But I highly recommend it if

387
00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:30,000
Speaker 2: you haven't done d C Baltimore. You know, that's a

388
00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:31,760
Speaker 2: great trip and it was a lot of fun for us.

389
00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,200
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And you know, I jokingly said what I said.

390
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,520
Speaker 1: I agree with you one hundred percent, especially when you

391
00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,679
Speaker 1: can go to another ballpark, you know, especially one you

392
00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,000
Speaker 1: know that that has the history of Camden Yards and

393
00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:46,480
Speaker 1: you can see, you know, a new place, you know

394
00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,000
Speaker 1: for a team that we see frequently play the Braves

395
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:50,600
Speaker 1: in the Nationals. I'm sure it was a great time

396
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,399
Speaker 1: and always enjoy your perspective. But one other thing I

397
00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,080
Speaker 1: want to ask you about as we get into you know,

398
00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:00,359
Speaker 1: some of Alex Andthopolis's comments from yesterday. Alex thought I

399
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,280
Speaker 1: talked about it on the pod from Wednesday. But when

400
00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,440
Speaker 1: you gets your perspective on a few things, Steven, one

401
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:07,360
Speaker 1: thing that Alex talked about was the fact that, yes,

402
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,479
Speaker 1: the Braves are using a six man rotation. It's their

403
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,000
Speaker 1: way of being proactive for them to be able to

404
00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:15,879
Speaker 1: keep their best arms as fresh as possible going into

405
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,280
Speaker 1: the playoffs. But the thing that I'll say is this

406
00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:21,400
Speaker 1: is that I don't think something that has really been

407
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,399
Speaker 1: mentioned that much is the fact that the Brave has

408
00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,679
Speaker 1: faced one of the best lineups in baseball, like the

409
00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:30,400
Speaker 1: Orioles are a top three team in baseball right now

410
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,639
Speaker 1: with one of the better lineups in the game, and

411
00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,560
Speaker 1: the Braves kept them under four runs in all three

412
00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,760
Speaker 1: of these games. I think that that's noteworthy. And I

413
00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:43,639
Speaker 1: also think that Spencer swellingbox performance from Wednesday's game was

414
00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,480
Speaker 1: absolutely outstanding as well. He pitched more than well enough

415
00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:49,840
Speaker 1: to get the victory. The offense just wasn't able to

416
00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,600
Speaker 1: support him. But just your thoughts. You gave your thoughts

417
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,280
Speaker 1: on Hurston waldrip, but just your thoughts on the six

418
00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:58,720
Speaker 1: man rotation moving forward, the effectiveness of that, you know,

419
00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,640
Speaker 1: to keep themes arms spread as we progress, but also

420
00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,720
Speaker 1: the experience gained by Waldrop and Schwellenbach, who after this

421
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:09,200
Speaker 1: season they could potentially use this experience as a reference

422
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:11,560
Speaker 1: point for as they take on bigger roles in the

423
00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:12,600
Speaker 1: rotation in the future.

424
00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:19,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, So the six man rotation is interesting because the

425
00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:22,879
Speaker 2: reason teams don't use a six man rotation kind of

426
00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:27,560
Speaker 2: the detriment of that strategy is that it's effectively taking

427
00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,280
Speaker 2: starts away from your best pictures and giving them to

428
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:34,600
Speaker 2: your fifth, sixth, seventh best pictures, which is why teams

429
00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:38,520
Speaker 2: don't typically do it. Right Like you, if you have

430
00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:41,200
Speaker 2: you know, high level pictures at the top of your rotation,

431
00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:43,760
Speaker 2: you want those guys out there as often as possible

432
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:45,840
Speaker 2: as the logic, and that's why a lot of teams

433
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,520
Speaker 2: don't do it, and the Braves haven't done it. If

434
00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:50,400
Speaker 2: you go look at you know, alex in th Oppos's

435
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,879
Speaker 2: history with the team, they have almost never done a

436
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,159
Speaker 2: six man rotation. I think what this is is a

437
00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,560
Speaker 2: response to and I've talked about this a little on Twitter,

438
00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:04,920
Speaker 2: the regular season matters a lot a lot less than

439
00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,439
Speaker 2: it used to. It just when you have expanded playoffs,

440
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,960
Speaker 2: you know, and everybody who makes the playoffs essentially has

441
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,040
Speaker 2: the same chances, there's very little difference between being the

442
00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,600
Speaker 2: sixth seed or the one seed. I know people will

443
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:21,680
Speaker 2: talk about the days off and the you know, it's

444
00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,680
Speaker 2: getting to set your pitching. But you know, we've seen

445
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:26,719
Speaker 2: in the past where that can be just as much

446
00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:28,560
Speaker 2: of a detriment as it can as it can be

447
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,720
Speaker 2: a helper. When you have expanded playoffs and there's not

448
00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,160
Speaker 2: a ton to play for in terms of where you're seeded,

449
00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:37,920
Speaker 2: the regular season just doesn't matter that much. And I

450
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,200
Speaker 2: hate to say that because I love regular season baseball.

451
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,679
Speaker 2: I love It's one of my favorite parts of baseball.

452
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,080
Speaker 2: It's what makes baseball unique. I wish that baseball had

453
00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:48,720
Speaker 2: done something different and protected its regular season more, but

454
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,680
Speaker 2: they didn't. They went the other way. They expanded playoffs.

455
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,320
Speaker 2: They made it even more useless. And that's kind of

456
00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:56,280
Speaker 2: where we're at. And I think this is a response

457
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,480
Speaker 2: to that because, like I said, typically when you have

458
00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,359
Speaker 2: a six mon roation, you're taking starts away from your

459
00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:03,880
Speaker 2: best pictures and giving him to your sixth, seventh, eighth

460
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,800
Speaker 2: best pictures. But in a world where the regular season

461
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,359
Speaker 2: doesn't matter as much, the positive of the six men

462
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,520
Speaker 2: rotation is you keep your starters, your elite starters healthier

463
00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:16,960
Speaker 2: for October. And I think the Braves, I think the

464
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,320
Speaker 2: the value judgment they've made is that, yes, we may

465
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:22,800
Speaker 2: we may not win as many games in the regular season,

466
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:25,720
Speaker 2: but what is winning one hundred and four hundred and

467
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 2: five games done for us over the last couple of years.

468
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:30,240
Speaker 2: We need to get to the postseason with our pictures healthy,

469
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:32,440
Speaker 2: because that's how we won in twenty one when Max

470
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:34,960
Speaker 2: Reid and Charlie Morton were dominating every start they made.

471
00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:38,920
Speaker 2: The bullpen was, you know, dominant in October, and that's

472
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:40,760
Speaker 2: how the Braves won a World Series. I think the

473
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:45,680
Speaker 2: Braves have switched their thinking because it's it's now it's

474
00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,439
Speaker 2: no longer about getting your best pictures out there as

475
00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,280
Speaker 2: much as possible. It's getting your best pictures as much

476
00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,280
Speaker 2: rest as possible and getting them as healthy as possible

477
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,280
Speaker 2: to October. And I agree with that. I think it's

478
00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:00,760
Speaker 2: a smart move. You know, I would not be surprised

479
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:02,440
Speaker 2: if they were doing if they did a six month

480
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:04,760
Speaker 2: rotition most of the year. Chris Sale has had a

481
00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,119
Speaker 2: long injury history. Everybody knows about it. Ronaldo Lopez has

482
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:09,640
Speaker 2: been a reliever of the last three years. Max Freed

483
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:11,920
Speaker 2: is coming off of an injury real year. Last year,

484
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:16,280
Speaker 2: they've already lost Spencer Strider. Like keeping this bullpen, I mean,

485
00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:21,199
Speaker 2: keeping this rotation healthy is a critical, critical piece to

486
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,480
Speaker 2: anything that Braves want to accomplish. So I think that's

487
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,040
Speaker 2: what I think. It's a change of thinking of getting

488
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:29,280
Speaker 2: your best pictures out there as much as possible to

489
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,000
Speaker 2: now getting your pictures as much rest and getting them

490
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,239
Speaker 2: as healthy as possible to October.

491
00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,200
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and it's a very smart move by the Braves

492
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:40,960
Speaker 1: in order to keep their pitching staff as fresh as

493
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,919
Speaker 1: possible for their playoff pursuit. Well, if your pursuit is

494
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:47,439
Speaker 1: to be as healthy as possible, one smart move that

495
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:50,960
Speaker 1: you can make from a nutrition standpoint is trusting AG

496
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:52,480
Speaker 1: One supplement.

497
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 3: Amacrats here from FT. I'm a former athlete that really

498
00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:01,679
Speaker 3: pays attention to his routine, and AG one every morning

499
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,359
Speaker 3: before my workouts is something that gets my day going.

500
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,280
Speaker 4: Hey, bron here. Ag one is a foundational nutrition supplement

501
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,480
Speaker 4: that delivers daily nutrients and gut health support, and it's

502
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:14,119
Speaker 4: backed by multiple research studies, so you can trust what

503
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:15,560
Speaker 4: you're putting in your body.

504
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,720
Speaker 3: Unlike other products which only test their ingredients in isolation.

505
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,680
Speaker 3: Ag one tests their formula.

506
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,119
Speaker 4: As a whole ready for this stat ninety seven percent

507
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:26,720
Speaker 4: of people in a research study felt more energy after

508
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:29,480
Speaker 4: thirty days of drinking ag one. If I had to

509
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,720
Speaker 4: recommend one product to support whole body health, it's ag

510
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:34,879
Speaker 4: one and that's why FT is excited to have them

511
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:37,640
Speaker 4: as a new partner. Starting your journey with ag one

512
00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,120
Speaker 4: is a win. Try ag one and get a free

513
00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:42,880
Speaker 4: one year supply of vitamin D three, K two, and

514
00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:46,040
Speaker 4: five free ag one travel packs with your first purchase

515
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:50,080
Speaker 4: at drinkag one dot com slash foul that's drinkag one

516
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:55,120
Speaker 4: dot com slash fo ul go check it out ftfam

517
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:55,959
Speaker 4: So Stephen.

518
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,200
Speaker 1: Of course, the other thing that stood out, another storyline,

519
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 1: besides the offense struggling, was that Brian Snicker started trying,

520
00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 1: you need to do something that he usually does not do,

521
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,280
Speaker 1: and that is, you know, shuffling the lineup back and forth.

522
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:09,879
Speaker 1: A couple of weeks ago, about three weeks ago, you

523
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,639
Speaker 1: and I discussed, you know, what is it going to

524
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,199
Speaker 1: look like at the top of the order, and it

525
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,680
Speaker 1: necessarily hasn't hasn't necessarily changed that much in terms of

526
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:19,280
Speaker 1: the top of the order. You know, it's still Michael

527
00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 1: Harrison Assi Alby's mainly. But we we've seen Marcelo Zuna

528
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 1: shifted a few times, you know, We've seen Austin Miley

529
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,760
Speaker 1: shifted down. We've seen some adjustments at the bottom of

530
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:30,880
Speaker 1: the order. The one main takeaway that I have from

531
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,280
Speaker 1: all this is that Marcelo Zuna should be batting the

532
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:35,120
Speaker 1: third no matter what. He should battle the first inning,

533
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,479
Speaker 1: he should try to get as many productive bats as

534
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,280
Speaker 1: possible with people on base. He should be in that

535
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,359
Speaker 1: third hole. But in terms of you know, Adam Devaul

536
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,159
Speaker 1: struggles here recently, you know, Kellennick, you know, kind of

537
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,760
Speaker 1: getting hot. Just what are you? What do you make

538
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:50,840
Speaker 1: of some of the lineup shifts and you know, kind

539
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,119
Speaker 1: of like me and saying Ozuna should definitely bat third.

540
00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 1: Is there anything that stands out to you that should

541
00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,960
Speaker 1: be a mainstay of the Braves lineup approach at this point.

542
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:03,840
Speaker 2: That's a good question. I would say our CN needs

543
00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:09,280
Speaker 2: to bat ninth every game, no matter what. You know.

544
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,160
Speaker 2: The caveat, of course, is the lineup doesn't matter that much.

545
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,560
Speaker 2: I will say this, I wasn't as upset as other

546
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,159
Speaker 2: people were when they moved a Zeno to five for Riley.

547
00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:22,679
Speaker 2: Like I get, I understand that. Trust me, I completely

548
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:24,960
Speaker 2: understand everybody's point that Azuno has been your best hitter,

549
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:26,960
Speaker 2: you want him batting third or you want him batting

550
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 2: in the first inning. The only problem with that logic

551
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,080
Speaker 2: is there's been a lot of studies done on like

552
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,879
Speaker 2: lineup construction in the best place to put your best hitters,

553
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:39,480
Speaker 2: and typically speaking, the third spot in the lineup is

554
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 2: is a bit overrated just because of how often that

555
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:44,560
Speaker 2: spot comes out with two out and nobody on in

556
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,600
Speaker 2: the first inning, Whereas, like the fourth spot in the lineup,

557
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,960
Speaker 2: if somebody gets on, anytime that spot comes up in

558
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,800
Speaker 2: the first inning, you're it's coming up with a runner on.

559
00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,399
Speaker 2: So like I understand what people are saying, I understand

560
00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,280
Speaker 2: why people are mad, but there is arguments to be made.

561
00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 2: But like the second spot in the order of the

562
00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:04,760
Speaker 2: fourth spot in the order are more important than the

563
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,720
Speaker 2: third bot in the order just from a value standpoint.

564
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:11,840
Speaker 2: So and listen, the Braves need the guys who are

565
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:13,880
Speaker 2: hitting in those spots to hit better regardless of where

566
00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:15,560
Speaker 2: they're here, right because there's no way to hide guys.

567
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,440
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter where you put them. Austin Riley learned

568
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,560
Speaker 2: this lesson the hard way over you know, this week

569
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 2: against Baltimore. But it doesn't matter where you are on

570
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,320
Speaker 2: the lineup. If you're going bad, the big spot will

571
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,639
Speaker 2: find you. You know, if there's a basis loaded situation,

572
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,000
Speaker 2: you're gonna be a If there's you know, two on

573
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:33,960
Speaker 2: two outs, we need a big hit, it's gonna be you.

574
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:36,359
Speaker 2: That doesn't matter if you're batting second or fourth, or

575
00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:39,040
Speaker 2: fifth or sixth. I mean Orlando Arcia. Every time Orlando

576
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:40,919
Speaker 2: Asia a bat's like fifth or sixth in the lineup,

577
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,679
Speaker 2: inevitably the biggest spot in the game comes with him

578
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:49,000
Speaker 2: at the plot late. So you know, the Braves just

579
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:50,639
Speaker 2: need their guys to hit better. Austin Rally has to

580
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,560
Speaker 2: hit better. There's no there's no way forward for the

581
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,119
Speaker 2: Braves with Austin Riley hitting the way he's hitting. Like,

582
00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 2: you can't you can't move, You can't rearrange your lineup

583
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,080
Speaker 2: enough to make up for that. At some point, you're

584
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,359
Speaker 2: just kind of rearranging teck chairs on the Titanic, like

585
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:08,720
Speaker 2: you need your best hitters to hit better. Austin Riley

586
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 2: has to hit better. Adam Deavall has been atrocious since

587
00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,560
Speaker 2: Kuna went down. You know, Michael Harris is still really

588
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,560
Speaker 2: struggling to put anything together. Before today, Ozzie Alby's was

589
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,880
Speaker 2: in a really bad funk. He obviously had four hits today,

590
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,199
Speaker 2: so hopefully that gets him going. But Matt Olson's been

591
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,879
Speaker 2: a bit better but still inconsistent. All of them have

592
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:32,080
Speaker 2: struggled with runners in scoring positions. So yes, lineup matters

593
00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 2: to an extent, but it doesn't matter past the extent

594
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:37,600
Speaker 2: of your best hitters just need to hit better, and

595
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,000
Speaker 2: so I'm not as worried about that. I would put

596
00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 2: RCA at the bottom of the order. I think he's

597
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:45,600
Speaker 2: the worst hitter, so but yeah, other than that, I

598
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 2: don't really have a strong opinion.

599
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 1: Well, then let's get a bit more of your opinion

600
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 1: on Austin Riley, because I agree with you from a

601
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:56,120
Speaker 1: couple of perspectives. The most important factor moving forward for

602
00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,840
Speaker 1: this team is Austin Riley coming back to be an

603
00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:02,000
Speaker 1: elite hitter. That's just the simple truth. You know, he

604
00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:04,760
Speaker 1: he probably has as high as a ceiling, you know,

605
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 1: than you know, nearly anybody on this team. I'd say

606
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,080
Speaker 1: it's hard to argue against a zuna, right now hard

607
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,400
Speaker 1: to argue against what you know Matt Olson did last year,

608
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:14,400
Speaker 1: but those guys are performing right now. Austin Riley, you know,

609
00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:18,080
Speaker 1: he's struggling, yes, from a results standpoint, But me and

610
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:20,400
Speaker 1: Scott talked about it last week a bit just looking

611
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:22,840
Speaker 1: at you know, why has he been struggling, and the

612
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:25,960
Speaker 1: thing that stood out was that he's seeing more fastballs

613
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,320
Speaker 1: than he ever has before. He's seeing them at a

614
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,680
Speaker 1: higher velocity. But interesting, you know, I looked a bit

615
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:34,840
Speaker 1: deeper into things today. You know, the amount of balls

616
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 1: that he's putting in play at one hundred miles per

617
00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,000
Speaker 1: hour or more in terms of exit velocity this year,

618
00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,200
Speaker 1: He's putting the same amount of balls in play from

619
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 1: a frequency standpoint that he has you know, in the past.

620
00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,760
Speaker 1: But what stands out, Steven, is that of those balls

621
00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 1: that are one hundred miles per hour or more off

622
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,480
Speaker 1: the bat for Austin Riley, nearly thirty percent of them

623
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,840
Speaker 1: have been ground balls between two thousand and one, twenty

624
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 1: twenty two and twenty twenty three. Half of them are

625
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,160
Speaker 1: round balls this year. So I know that you you know,

626
00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:07,560
Speaker 1: looked at some of his at bats, you know firsthand,

627
00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:09,560
Speaker 1: and some of them it just seemed like he was

628
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,880
Speaker 1: struggling badly. But even when when he's making solid contact,

629
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:15,120
Speaker 1: a lot of the contact is on the ground. Just

630
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,280
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts about Austin Miriley. It seems like

631
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 1: that things can turn around for him quickly, but that

632
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,000
Speaker 1: ground ball frequency certainly has to be a spot. The

633
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:25,120
Speaker 1: ball just has to go in the air.

634
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 2: War Yeah, I mean his ground balls are definitely up,

635
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:33,320
Speaker 2: and like you said, in terms of when he hits

636
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:35,400
Speaker 2: the ball hard, especially his ground balls are up. He's

637
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,720
Speaker 2: got three homers for the year, Alston really has three

638
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 2: homers for the entire year. We're in the middle of June.

639
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, he missed, he missed. He missed about

640
00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:50,320
Speaker 2: ten days with that side injury. But he's got three

641
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:54,200
Speaker 2: homers in June and our three homers, you know, as

642
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,280
Speaker 2: we sit here in the middle of June. So yeah,

643
00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:59,600
Speaker 2: he needs more power. He's got to get the ball

644
00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 2: off the ground. He's he's in a kind of a

645
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 2: strikeout funk right now. You can tell it's mental at

646
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:08,360
Speaker 2: this point. I mean he is, he is. He's struggling

647
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,280
Speaker 2: with his swing, take decisions. You can tell by the

648
00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:13,120
Speaker 2: pitches he's you know, swinging out the pitches he's taking.

649
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,360
Speaker 2: It's just it's all mental, right, He's he he is

650
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,560
Speaker 2: in his head, you know, Snit's talked about it a lot.

651
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:20,880
Speaker 2: When when these guys start struggling, it becomes a mental

652
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,720
Speaker 2: battle as much as a physical battle. He just needs

653
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:25,479
Speaker 2: some good results. He needs to take some pressure off

654
00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:27,920
Speaker 2: of himself. You know, every time you fail in one

655
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:29,600
Speaker 2: of those positions. And he had a rough day to day.

656
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:31,520
Speaker 2: I think he went like, I think he was over

657
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:33,160
Speaker 2: five today and I think four of them came with

658
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,360
Speaker 2: runners and scoring positions. So you know that's not gonna help.

659
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:38,680
Speaker 2: But you know, every time you fail in one of

660
00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 2: those positions, you just put even more pressure on yourself

661
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 2: the next time up, and then more pressure the next

662
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 2: time and more press Like it's a it's a it's

663
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:48,640
Speaker 2: a brutal it's a brutal snowball effect. So you know,

664
00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 2: he he just needs some good some good outcomes.

665
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:51,600
Speaker 1: Uh.

666
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,520
Speaker 2: You know, a blue pit, you know, a ball over

667
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:58,200
Speaker 2: the wall would do wonders for him. A line drive

668
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,280
Speaker 2: that finds a gap, you know, just any any any

669
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:02,880
Speaker 2: kind of positive would be huge for him and then

670
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,200
Speaker 2: just build on it from there. But the amount of

671
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 2: pressure he's putting on himself right now, Yeah, he's he is.

672
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:11,440
Speaker 2: Every time he goes up to the plate, it's like,

673
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:13,560
Speaker 2: oh two, he's you know, he's swinging at a bad

674
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,360
Speaker 2: pitch taking a good pitch, like you can just tell

675
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,120
Speaker 2: he's like what, you know, what's happening, Like what's going on?

676
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,560
Speaker 2: Like he can I'm sure he doesn't understand what's happening.

677
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:26,000
Speaker 2: So it's brutal for the Braves, of course, especially without Ronnie.

678
00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:29,520
Speaker 2: You know, Austin is the highest. Austin signed the biggest

679
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:31,760
Speaker 2: contract in the history of the franchise, and that's part

680
00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:33,280
Speaker 2: of this too. I mean, we're we're crazy if we

681
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,320
Speaker 2: don't talk about that. Like there's pressure that comes with

682
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:40,800
Speaker 2: signing the biggest contract in franchise history. And you know,

683
00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:43,880
Speaker 2: every time he's not performing, I'm sure he's thinking about that,

684
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:47,040
Speaker 2: and I'm sure he hears that. You know, social media

685
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,560
Speaker 2: can be a brutal place when you're not doing well,

686
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,080
Speaker 2: and I'm sure he's caught a lot of crap for it,

687
00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:55,880
Speaker 2: and you know that just adds to the pressure. So

688
00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:00,560
Speaker 2: he needs some good results, you know, some good bats,

689
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:04,120
Speaker 2: you know, take a walk, take some good pitches, you know,

690
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:07,000
Speaker 2: kind of what made Austin Riley turn into Austin Riley

691
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:09,240
Speaker 2: was his ability to not swing at those bad pitches,

692
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:11,760
Speaker 2: not swing it those sliders away. You know, he got

693
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,920
Speaker 2: really really good at at at taking those pitches and

694
00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:17,800
Speaker 2: then and then punishing mistakes on the zone. He just

695
00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:19,960
Speaker 2: needs to get back to that guy and take some

696
00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,640
Speaker 2: of the pressure off. There's still a long way to go.

697
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:25,480
Speaker 2: You know, Austin can still write a whole different story

698
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,560
Speaker 2: for the twenty twenty four season, especially if he has

699
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,240
Speaker 2: a big second half of Big October. No one's gonna

700
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:35,160
Speaker 2: remember this, but he needs some positive results and you know,

701
00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:37,959
Speaker 2: hopefully that starts on Friday, you know, when they get

702
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:38,840
Speaker 2: home versus Tampa.

703
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:42,960
Speaker 1: Absolutely and and you know this is typically the time

704
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:46,480
Speaker 1: of year where you see Austin Ryland really Austin Riley

705
00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:48,320
Speaker 1: really get going. I meant to look at it having

706
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: asm yet, but if you remember over the past couple

707
00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:52,960
Speaker 1: of years, you know, I believe it was twenty twenty

708
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,640
Speaker 1: two he had that incredible month of July which resulted

709
00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,440
Speaker 1: in the two hundred and MEI dollars contract extension. Last

710
00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:03,320
Speaker 1: year he started taking off at June as well, so

711
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,240
Speaker 1: it would be a great time for Austinmiley to get going,

712
00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:08,200
Speaker 1: and there's no better time than president And I think

713
00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:11,520
Speaker 1: that's what kind of defines this upcoming series with the

714
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:13,640
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay Rays. You know, the Braves, after the Rays,

715
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,080
Speaker 1: they've got you know, they're going home. But after the Rays,

716
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:18,920
Speaker 1: they face the Tigers, they face the Yankees, and they

717
00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:21,600
Speaker 1: face the Pirates another series. You know, for the rest

718
00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:24,200
Speaker 1: of this month. There's some pretty notable starting pitching that

719
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,600
Speaker 1: the Braves could face in those series. This series against

720
00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,040
Speaker 1: the Rays, I think comes down to two things. For

721
00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:32,319
Speaker 1: the Braves, you just want to get a series win.

722
00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 1: You want to get a series win after the struggles

723
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:37,560
Speaker 1: that you've had over the past three weeks or so.

724
00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 1: But also what kind of defines this series is that

725
00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:42,200
Speaker 1: kind of like the Braves, the Rays have a lot

726
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,560
Speaker 1: of underperforming offensive players as well. Which team is really

727
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 1: going to see one of their better players step up

728
00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,000
Speaker 1: to have the best offensive series of you know, all

729
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:53,480
Speaker 1: the players who will be playing this weekend. I think

730
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:56,040
Speaker 1: that's what defines it. You know, which team is going

731
00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:58,480
Speaker 1: to have the better, you know, offensive approach and really

732
00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:00,919
Speaker 1: start to put things together offensively. The Braids are gonna

733
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,040
Speaker 1: have Chris Sale then Charlie Morton, then Hirston Waldrick making

734
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:06,239
Speaker 1: his second career start. You'd love to go ahead and

735
00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:09,200
Speaker 1: get Friday and Saturday's win. But to me again, Stephen, it's,

736
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:12,000
Speaker 1: you know, the Braves offense really needing to find a

737
00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,400
Speaker 1: foothold and find some success and whatever way possible they

738
00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:17,120
Speaker 1: need to get that series win. That's two things that

739
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:18,799
Speaker 1: stand out to me. What stands out to you about

740
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:20,560
Speaker 1: this weekend series against the Rays?

741
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:24,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, listen, it's very funny if you look

742
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:28,520
Speaker 2: at the two teams, there's a lot of similarities. You know,

743
00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:30,320
Speaker 2: the Rays were of course expected to be one of

744
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:32,440
Speaker 2: the best teams in baseball. They've been one of the

745
00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,600
Speaker 2: best teams in baseball for the last I don't know,

746
00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,759
Speaker 2: five seven years. You know how far back you want

747
00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:42,160
Speaker 2: to go, But you know, you look at their lineup,

748
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:46,640
Speaker 2: I mean it's it's it's maybe struggling worse than the

749
00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:49,600
Speaker 2: Brazz I mean, Randia rose Arena has a sub six

750
00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:53,640
Speaker 2: hundred ops for the season, sub six hundred. He's got

751
00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:57,080
Speaker 2: a five ninety ops right now. Brendan Lyle's got a

752
00:35:57,120 --> 00:36:01,439
Speaker 2: sub seven hundred ops. Yandy Diz has a sub seven

753
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:05,480
Speaker 2: hundred ops. Jose Siri has a sub seven hundred ohps.

754
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:09,719
Speaker 2: You know, it's just a lot of that. It's a

755
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,839
Speaker 2: lot of really bad offense. And they've got guys who

756
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:14,839
Speaker 2: can pitch. They've always got guys that pitch. They've always

757
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:17,759
Speaker 2: got a deep bullpen. But you know, they're not a

758
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:20,040
Speaker 2: big market team. They depend on kind of their three

759
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,480
Speaker 2: or four really good hitters to be you know, really

760
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:24,839
Speaker 2: good hitters. And that's kind of what they haven't done

761
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,520
Speaker 2: this year. So and obviously Braves fans all that sounds

762
00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:30,600
Speaker 2: very familiar. So, like you said, it's gonna be what

763
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:33,759
Speaker 2: offense kind of finds itself a little bit. It's gonna

764
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:36,719
Speaker 2: be good pitching. You know, the Braves have Sale going,

765
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:39,600
Speaker 2: so that always helps Charlie Morton and then and then

766
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:41,959
Speaker 2: Waldrop will see how he does for a second start.

767
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:44,839
Speaker 2: I imagine O go better than his first. But yeah,

768
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:46,960
Speaker 2: which offense can get going, the Braiz will be back home,

769
00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:50,680
Speaker 2: which will be nice. But yeah, one of these offenses

770
00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:52,520
Speaker 2: got to get going at some point. Hopefully it's Atlanta.

771
00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,600
Speaker 2: They're a long long pass to Getting six runs today

772
00:36:55,719 --> 00:36:58,880
Speaker 2: was a big deal. You know, sixteen played appearances with

773
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:01,760
Speaker 2: the Runners in scoring business is a good thing. Obviously

774
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:03,719
Speaker 2: you'd like to capitalize on more of them than they

775
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 2: did today, but six runs gotta win. Hopefully they can

776
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:10,040
Speaker 2: build on time. It's been I look this up today,

777
00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:13,480
Speaker 2: it's been like since the middle of April with the

778
00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:15,720
Speaker 2: Braves have scored five runs and back to back games,

779
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 2: like five five plus runs and back to back games.

780
00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:21,640
Speaker 2: They did it in that series against Texas, like in

781
00:37:21,719 --> 00:37:24,600
Speaker 2: middle of the middle of April where Darnault had that

782
00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:26,880
Speaker 2: three homer game. That's the last time the Braves scored

783
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:29,960
Speaker 2: five plus runs in two games in a row. So,

784
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:33,680
Speaker 2: you know, they scored six today. It would be wonderful

785
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,440
Speaker 2: to come out tomorrow put another six seven runs on

786
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:38,680
Speaker 2: the board and just and see if you can get something,

787
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,040
Speaker 2: go and see if you can get hot. You know,

788
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:44,480
Speaker 2: Alex talked about this in his interview. The playoffs are

789
00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:48,560
Speaker 2: still very mannered, like they're they're then the National League

790
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,040
Speaker 2: overall is pretty down this year. Obviously everybody knows Philly

791
00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:53,319
Speaker 2: has been great. But you know, even if the Braves

792
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:56,239
Speaker 2: don't win the division, like making the playoffs is still

793
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:58,719
Speaker 2: very manageable, Like it's still in front of them. They

794
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:01,600
Speaker 2: still have a high percentage odds of making the playoffs.

795
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:03,680
Speaker 2: They just got to get going. They just got to

796
00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:05,640
Speaker 2: get their guys going. That's the most important thing. Get

797
00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:09,120
Speaker 2: Austin Riley going. You know, Adam de Wall all against

798
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:11,960
Speaker 2: right handers is bench just brutal. Get him going. Michael

799
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,560
Speaker 2: Harris is still, you know, struggling with with swinging at

800
00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:19,359
Speaker 2: decent pitches, taking bad pitches. You know, hopefully this game

801
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,200
Speaker 2: will get Ozsie going, get mad a little more consistent.

802
00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:24,680
Speaker 2: Hopefully a Zuna doesn't cool down at all, because the

803
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,040
Speaker 2: Rays can't afford that right now. But get their guys going.

804
00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:30,240
Speaker 2: Just get your guys going and then see what happens.

805
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and you know you'd love to win this series.

806
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:37,200
Speaker 1: But at the very least, hey just have more home

807
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:39,680
Speaker 1: runs than your opponent in a series. As good as

808
00:38:39,719 --> 00:38:42,440
Speaker 1: it was to see things Thursday, we still didn't see

809
00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:44,160
Speaker 1: a home run. I'm trying to remember. Yeah, now, none

810
00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:46,800
Speaker 1: of our runs came off a home run. Matt Olson

811
00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,719
Speaker 1: obviously hit a big one on Wednesday, but yeah, yeah,

812
00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:53,240
Speaker 1: just you know, get get get maybe out Homer your opponent.

813
00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:55,360
Speaker 1: I don't care how bad they're shruggling. Just have that

814
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:57,239
Speaker 1: under your belt. So if we get a series win,

815
00:38:57,480 --> 00:38:59,319
Speaker 1: we can hit more homers in the Rays. I'll take

816
00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:02,040
Speaker 1: that as a great weekend, and of course, you know

817
00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:03,759
Speaker 1: want to put it out there to Braves country that

818
00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:06,160
Speaker 1: it's an awesome weekend for baseball. You got the Braves

819
00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:09,319
Speaker 1: returning home, coming off of a needed win. You've got

820
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:12,040
Speaker 1: Drake Baldwin and Nacho Alvarez who are now at Gwennett.

821
00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:14,960
Speaker 1: Nacho Alvarez hit his first home run I believe in

822
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:17,440
Speaker 1: triple a earlier today. Then of course you got the

823
00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:20,719
Speaker 1: College World Series with a certain team being number one

824
00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:23,120
Speaker 1: in the nation. Steven, you may not have a comment

825
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:25,160
Speaker 1: on that, but all joking Aside's gonna be a lot

826
00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:28,120
Speaker 1: of fun this weekend, a ton of baseball to watch.

827
00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:30,680
Speaker 1: But Steven, it's great to have you back anything else

828
00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:32,919
Speaker 1: you have for us as we wrap up this edition

829
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,840
Speaker 1: of The Hammer Territory Podcast. A winning edition of The

830
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:37,120
Speaker 1: Hammer Territory Podcast.

831
00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:40,560
Speaker 2: No, it's good to be home. Like I said, I

832
00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:43,000
Speaker 2: appreciate all you guys covering the podcast. If you haven't

833
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,000
Speaker 2: checked out the episodes the last you know week or so,

834
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:47,600
Speaker 2: make sure you do that. Like I said, Scott had

835
00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:51,560
Speaker 2: a great episode with Justin Toscatto of the AJC. Justin

836
00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:53,920
Speaker 2: had a lot of really good insights. You should definitely

837
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,080
Speaker 2: go listen to that. There's been three or four episodes

838
00:39:56,080 --> 00:39:57,920
Speaker 2: since I've been gone, so make sure to check them

839
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,480
Speaker 2: all out. We appreciate it as always, thanks for the support,

840
00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:02,319
Speaker 2: it's been amazing and yeah, go.

841
00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,840
Speaker 1: Brieves absolutely and also you know, hey, I know it

842
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:08,560
Speaker 1: was a week ago, but the content still there. Steven's

843
00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:12,120
Speaker 1: conversation with them Mark Bowman was an awesome conversation as well.

844
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,040
Speaker 1: Had had a lot of insight and also some good laughs,

845
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:17,000
Speaker 1: so make sure you check that one out as well.

846
00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:20,440
Speaker 1: But you can find Steven Tolbert at b Underscore Outliers

847
00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:22,480
Speaker 1: on x slash Twitter. You can find me at stats

848
00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:24,680
Speaker 1: a say z in the same place you can find

849
00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:28,359
Speaker 1: Hammer Territory outcross all forms of social media of course,

850
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:31,920
Speaker 1: part of the Foul Territory family of podcasts. And just

851
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:35,080
Speaker 1: hit that subscribe button wherever you enjoy listening to your podcast.

852
00:40:35,160 --> 00:40:37,920
Speaker 1: That's what will be for free at any time that

853
00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:41,000
Speaker 1: you subscribe for Steven Toilbert. My name is Sean Colman Gobraves.

854
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:42,959
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you again soon here on the Hammer

855
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:44,040
Speaker 1: Territory podcast.